Cemented shoe construction



y 1938. H. B. 'GORMAN CEMENTED SHOE CONSTRUCTION Filed March 6, -1935 15IN QENT R I kfm'qw,nliufz w figgw I Patented May 3, 1938 UNITED STATESPATENT orFicE 1 OEMENTED SHOE CONSTRUCTION Application March 6, 1935,Serial No. 9,601

2 Claims.

This invention relates to the manufacture of cemented shoes, and moreparticularly to the manner of bonding the outsole of such a shoe to theupper. T

A general object of the invention is to provide an improved cementedshoe structure wherein any tendency of the outsole to peel away from theupper is circumvented.

A further object is to provide an improved outsole for cement attachmentto a lasted upper.

Another object is to provide a method of preventing the outsole of acemented shoe from peeling away from its upper.

Yet another object is to provide a cemented shoe having a stronger, morepermanent bond between the outsole and upper.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in partappear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comp-rises the several steps and the relationof one or more of such steps with respect to each of the others, and thearticle possessing the features, properties, and the relation ofelements, which are exemplified in the following detailed disclosure,and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in theclaims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the inventionreference should be had to the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an outsole embodying the principles ofthe present invention; and

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view across the forepart ofa shoe to which the outsole of Fig. 1 has been attached.

In the manufacture of cemented shoes the outsole is united to the bottomof the lasted upper 40 by means of cement which is usually pyroxylincement but may be of any other suitable kind. Pyroxylin cement forms afirm tenacious bond between the shoe parts which cannot be pulled apartby a direct pressure acting more or less perpendicularly to the plane ofthe bond. However, in some cases where the extension edge of cementedshoes is subjected to severe downward knocking or scuffing, there mayensue a peeling action which peels the outsole away from 50 the upper towhich it is cemented. That is, the cemented bond may sometimes be peeledor split apart where it could not ordinarily be directly pulled apart.In accordance with the present invention, this peeling separation of theoutsole from the upper is circumvented by deflecting or fore availablethat even "coarse inferior grades of leather such as belly leather, maybe used with improved tenacity between the shoe parts, al-

though a'superior joint is assuredwhen leathers of the commonly employedquality are used. The outsole I0 is rounded to any desired 5126,3116. isgiven any of the usual desired operations prior to cement afiixing it tothe upper, such as shanking it out and roughing its marginal portion towhich cement is to be applied.

Inaccordance with the present invention, the sole is provided with achannelor incision I I which extends around a marginal portionthereofand runs downwardly into the sole stock from its flesh side. The primaryfunction of this channel is to weaken the sole so that its edge portionmay flex downwardly away from its body portionso as to alter theeffective direction of a force applied downwardly against the top edgeof the sole after it is cemented to the shoe. This will be more apparentupon considering the shoe structure illustrated in Fig. 2, whichcomprises an insole I2 to which an upper I3 is overlasted in theconventional McKay relationship except that its overlasted allowance Mis preferably attached to the insole by cement indicated at I5. However,the particular method of lasting the upper and insole makes no essentialdifference with respect to the principles of the present invention, solong as the outsole ultimately is cement bonded to the lasted upper. Inthe form. of shoe particularly illustrated in Fig. 2, a filler I 6 isapplied between the inturned edges of the lasting allowance and theoutsole III is affixed thereto by a layer of cement I1, preferablypyroxylin cement, which is located between the marginal portion of thesole and the inturned lasting allowance.

Channel II is extended downwardly and inwardly into the sole stock to adepth which is preferably at least half the thickness of such stock, orat any rate to such a depth that it facilitates downward flexure of theedge of the sole with respect to its central body portion. Some of thecement I'I seeps into channel I I and serves normally to hold it closed.

However, the cement within channel H does not hold this channel closedwith the same tenacity as the main body of cement holds the outsole tothe upper. That is, when a force such as that indicated at F is appliedto the edge of outsole, such edge flexes downwardly, opening the channelll. Once this channel pulls open, the force F, which tended to peel thebond at H, becomes applicable to such bond along a component indicatedat F. When the channel II is downwardly and inwardly directed, it willbe seen that the force F must be transmitted around the thin flexedstock at l8 to a vicinity located within the point I9 where the channelH meets the flesh surface of the sole. In other words, the peelingeffect of force F is altered to the direct pulling effect of force Fbecause of the opening of the gap at H. In practice, the opening I!) ofthe channel is located about 5-2 of an inch inwardly from the outermostboundary 2!] of the cemented area, so that the peeling action exerted byforce F can only continue for this F3 of an inch, after which thechannel pul s open and further exertion of the force must act directlydownwardly against the adhesion of cement ll. This effectivelycircumvents continued peeling of the sole away from the upper whichwould render the shoe unfit for wear, and substitutes a relativelyharmless local flexure of the edge portion of the sole. This edgeportion is adaptedto move back into position as soon as the force at Fis removed.

The channel H may be extended around any desired marginal part of theoutsole, being shown in Fig. l as extending around the forepart thereof,which is the preferred form. However, it may be extended along the shankand even into the heel portions if desired. This channel may be appliedat any suitable time during the manufacture of the outsole, eitherbefore or after any of the usual operations, such as shanking, roughing,cementing, etc., and it may be made in any suitable manner, as forexample by means of conventional channeling machines having a specialknife, or having a conventional knife adjusted to the required angle. Asexplained, the channel preferably extends downwardly and inwardly inorder to transfer the effect of downward scuffing forces to an arealocated well within point l9 at which the peeling action stops. However,it is contemplated that this channel my extend in any desired directionso long as the edge portion of the sole is weakened so as to permitdownward flexure thereof in a manner which circumvents or retards apeeling separation of the outsole and upper.

It will be appreciated that in the drawing, the size and relationship ofthe parts has been exaggerated better to show the described non-peelingaction.

It will be seen that in accordance with the present invention, kickingand scufling forces applied to the edge of the outsole of a cementedshoe cannot be effective to peel or pry the sole away from the upper andthat a stronger and more permanent attachment between these shoe partsis assured.

Since certain changes in carrying out the above method, and certainmodifications in the article which embody the invention may be madewithout departing from its scope, it is intended that all mattercontained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawingshall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is to be understood that the following claims are intended to coverall of the generic and specific features of the invention hereindescribed, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as amatter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is:

1. A cemented shoe comprising an upper and an outsole, cement attachingsaid sole to said upper, said sole having a channel extending marginallyaround the forepart thereof, said channel opening into the flesh orupper surface of said outsole along a line located only slightly withinthe outer boundary of said cement, and continuing downwardly andinwardly into said sole whereby the extended edge of said sole at theforepart is integrally attached to the remainder thereof at pointslocated inwardly beyond the outer margin of said cemented area, saidchannel forming a weakened line around the forepart margin of the soleso .that said extended edge is held against the body of the sole withless tenacity than the sole is held against the shoe upper wherebydownward forces applied to said extended edge may permit said channel toopen to assure transmission of such forces to said cemented area throughsaid inwardly located integral attachment. 7

2. A method of preventing the outsole of a cemented shoe from peelingfrom the upper, which comprises weakening such outsole along a margi nalline near the outer boundary of the cemented area by forming therein aweakened slit or channel from its flesh surface downwardly and inwardlytoward but not to its grain side, applying cement to the flesh surfaceof the marginal portion of said sole while keeping said channel closedand excluding any save a possible slight seepage of cement from saidchannel, and sticking said cemented sole margin to the bottom of alasted upper, whereby its outer edge portion beyond said weakenedchannel may break downwardly away from the body of the sole except atits integrally connected lower portion.

HENRY B. GORMAN.

